1. Technical Field
This invention relates to improvements in devices powered by air, and more particularly, to windmills and apparatuses connected to them, such as, vehicles propelled by motor driven propellers, augmented by a windmill; which apparatuses may additionally have multiple airfoils in a stack to enhance power output, lift and propulsion.
2. Background Art
In the prior art, it was known to use windmills to compress and store compressed air. Such a system is shown in my prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,181, issued Oct. 17, 2000, which discloses windmill structures and systems. Therein I disclose a number of ways of attaching the rotating shaft of a windmill to various mechanical means and compressors.
In the prior art, it is known to use air to power vehicles such as automobiles. Despite extensive knowledge of the desirability of such vehicles, there is not currently on the market for mass production and delivery to the general public any such device. Guy Negre, a French engineer, allegedly has several patents and has produced a number of prototypes. Reportedly, air would be stored in a carbon-fiber or fiberglass tank at very high pressure (4,351 pounds per square inch), then combined with warmer outside air in a cylinder to move a piston. It may be that the car would actually scrub the ambient air with an onboard carbon filter.
It is reported that around 1900, compressed air trams plied the streets of Paris. Reportedly, the trams made only short trips. Attempts to run cars or trucks on compressed air have foundered on the weight of the air tanks needed to obtain a minimally acceptable range of 100 miles or more.
Engineers who have looked at hybrid-powered vehicles have felt that compressed air compared unfavorably with batteries as a medium for storing energy and were inherently inefficient. It is noteworthy that the environmentalists feel that the car, rather than being pollution-free, would only be as clean to the environment as the plants that produce the electricity used in compressing the air to drive the vehicles. To that end, the proponents of compressed air vehicles state that environmentally complete clean hydro power or solar panels could be used to supply the electricity.
One of the problems that I have noted in my work with windmills is that there may be periods when the wind is either very slow or very fast for a sustained period of time. This can affect the usefulness of the windmill system in compressing and storing compressed air.
Further, in the prior art, it has been known to mount air foils in stacks, such as the wing arrangement in bi-planes and tri-planes. I have discovered that the performance of such arrangements may be enhanced depending on the mounting and relative positioning of the air foils.